


Six Years of Searching

by Shyfan



Category: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Betrayal, Family Feels, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm kinda new to this, Multi, can i add tags later?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-23 22:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyfan/pseuds/Shyfan
Summary: "So what happened?" Sisu questioned, her tail flicking slightly with curiousity as they sat down and ate the buffet spread in front of them."What do you mean what happened?" Raya replied, hands darting around to create her Miang Kham wrap meals, "I was betrayed, poisoned, a bunch of people tried to steal from me, and I met a bunch of binturis. Humans are cruel.""Oh... Oh but everything is better now right?""I don't think so."ORWhat happened during those six years that turned an excited, idealistic princess into a distrustful warrior full of pain and misery? Why was Raya always worried about being poisoned from some food even from a kid like Boun? And how did Namaari cope with what happened? How much did Fang benefit from the fall of the rest of the world to make Namaari risk killing Sisu for the gems to be in Fang's hands?Story picks up a bit after Raya watched Chief Benja turn into stone.
Relationships: Atitaya & Virana, Namaari & Raya (Disney), Namaari & Virana (Disney), Namaari/Raya (Disney), Virana/OC
Comments: 18
Kudos: 75





	1. What's Going to Happen Now?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, hey! I'm overanalytical on this movie so I gotta answer the questions somehow. The situation is not too bad yet in this first chapter, it'll ramp up in later chapters.  
> I hope that whoever you are, enjoy reading this!

Dark.

It was all dark and suffocating in the water with the exception of the small pulsing light from what was left of the dragon gem in her hand.

Raya didn’t understand what was going on. 

She couldn’t think. She couldn’t quite breathe properly, gasping for air through her sobs, eyes transfixed on her father’s frozen body as she was dragged away from the bridge by the water. He wasn’t...dead. He couldn’t be. Everything happened too fast. 

Distant screams and shouts began to fade away and soon, the fog crept in and shrouded her view from the bridge. 

It was all quiet when Tuk tuk nudged her cheek softly, “churrp?” The sword had loosened from her back and she hugged it to her chest. He nudged again and moved her head towards the Heart island. 

“I know” Raya whispered softly and turned towards land, her head diving briefly into the water in a splash.

With a little huff, she tugged the sword up on the river’s edge, crawled up, and collapsed on the dirt. It was okay, she didn’t need to move. She had the gem, she was tired, and everyone else… 

Well, thinking wasn’t good now. It was better for her to just stare at the grass for a while.

* * *

“1, 2, 3! 1, 2, 3!” The rowers chanted continuously, paddling the royal barge swiftly through the water back to Fang. They had slowed down since they left the Heart territory but tensions were still high and everyone was feeling jittery. Everyone who wasn’t paddling had their eyes set on the horizon scanning for what may be a hint of dark and purple.

“Mom, are we all okay?” Namaari spoke quietly, tugging on her mother’s hand that had been tightly wrapped around hers since they had started running. 

Chief Virana looked down, “No one will be.” She searched Namaari’s eyes before sweeping her into a hug, “But I’m glad you’re safe.” There was a small silence before she continued, “Get into the throne room and get some sleep. It’s been a long day and it’ll be good to have some rest.”

“But mom, I’m fine!”

“Get some rest.” Virana walked Namaari to the structure at the center of the boat and parted the drapes, “I want you to attend the briefing tonight my morning mist. There will be a lot of changes and you’ll need the energy for it.”

The curtains closed after Namaari was gently pushed into the room but she lingered by and lifted the side of the cloth to peek out.

“General Atitāya!” She heard her mother call as she strided to the front of the boat “How many did we lose?”

The quiet general turned around, “Five people.” She sighed, “Chalerm, Aek, and Khanittha lured the Druun away. Thanya wasn’t fast enough without her cat.” Her voice wavered, “And Petch, Petch was always hot headed.”

The colonel next to her patted her shoulder gently as she let out a shaky breath, “We all saw him. He was first to go, ran straight to the Druun and shot at it.”

“I see.” The Chieftain bowed her head sorrowfully, “We’ll hold a ceremony for them at the end of the week. Let it be known that their sacrifices were honorable.” 

Atitaya wiped a stray tear from her eye and turned to the side, “Piyakom, you are close to Thanya and Aek’s family aren’t you?”

The colonel nodded, “I can tell them.”

Namaari dropped her hand from the curtains and brought them close to her face as she sat down, staring at them shake. This was her very first mission and she ruined it. She didn’t just kill off five of her mother’s trusted soldiers, she also started the end of the world. She was a terrible princess, a terrible person. Her mother must have been very disappointed in her.

The 12-year-old curled her hands into a tight fist in frustration and scooted back to punch the triangular pillow by the wall. Punch. Box. Jab. Strike. Punch. Box. Jab. Right hook. Left hook. 

“UGH!” Namaari flipped the pillow in anger, breathing harshly. She picked up the bolster next and was about to strangle the life out of it when the drapes parted again and a slightly chubby little woman ducked in.

“Princess Namaari, Chief Virana sent me to check on your injuries.” 

“I’m _fine_ Witya.” The girl lessened her grip on her pillow and rested her chin on top, “I wasn’t cut or anything. Go check on Sumate, I saw that he was injured.”

Witya smiled gently and settled down by her side, “I know. I bandaged his wounds already, but I know you were in a fight. It wouldn’t hurt to check you too.”

Namaari shook her head and kept her eyes on the side curtains. Her eyes were glistening and she couldn’t trust herself to speak.

“Princess,” The apple-shaped woman began, “It was all an accident and we’re all glad that you’re safe.”

“S-shut up.” Namaari buried her face into the bolster, “A princess protects her people. I couldn’t do that today.”

They sat there silently for a few minutes before Witya reached out to touch her back, “Just let me apply some ointment on you and then I’ll leave you to sleep alright?”

“Okay.”

* * *

The sun had left the sky when Raya woke up and the stars twinkled brightly in the dark. She picked up Tuk Tuk and gently tapped him awake before strapping the sword to her back. Where now?

Raya searched for the pathway back to the palace. It’s not possible for everyone to have died right?  
The lanterns weren’t lit tonight but that could be because people were hiding from the Druun. 

It wasn’t long before she stubbed her toe on a cobbled pathway and dragged herself into the palace.

“Hello?” Raya called as she walked through the empty halls, “W-weird…” the halls echoed her voice faintly back as she mused to herself. “M-maybe all the workers went home today? I-it was a busy day…” The distant sound of crickets were her only reply.

The lone girl turned into the kitchen where she had been earlier in the day and her stomach grumbled loudly. 

“Eh! Urf!” Tuk tuk squealed excitedly and rolled onto the short table to munch on the longans left in a plate. 

Raya smiled, “You’re always hungry aren’t you?” She grabbed a bunch of mangosteen fruits and chewed quietly, “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Images flashed by her mind on repeat as she reflected on the day. Baba… The five tribes… Namaari… Namaari! How could she be so stupid? What a fool, showing the enemy the dragon gem because she got a gift? 

Speaking of which, Raya dug her hand into her pocket and clasped onto the Sisu necklace. It was beautiful. She was a little jealous of Namaari when she first saw it but now? Now she was just...disgusted. Did she just sell her land away for some little dragon trinket? Just because a cute girl smiled at her and gave her a gift she was willing to show her a secret that was kept safe for 500 years? Granted, she wasn’t able to connect with any other kids her age because she was “too religious” or too busy training to be the guardian of the dragon gem but seriously? Was she sooo desperate for a friend that she sold her people away? For a moment, she felt nauseated at the brief remembrance of how brightly her heart had lit up at the teasing sound of Namaari’s laughter. How could she have had so much fun with Namaari?

Everything was a lie. 

Tricking her was as easy as peeling a banana. And all those years of training? All pointless. _Toi._

Raya’s fingertips dug into the mangosteen she was holding and it gushed a dark purple, bleeding all over her hands and dripping onto the floor. Tuk tuk jumped, startled by the furious look on her face. 

“I’ll kill her someday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so this is my first fic, I never published anything before so I hope my writing works out well! Comment below if I did okay? Anything I should improve on or stuff. Or if you thought I did well maybe say it was good or something? Also man, it takes so long to write one chapter! How do so many people do this??? I started writing cuz I felt like I wasn't contributing after reading so many fics XD.
> 
> On another note, I'm Thai so a lot of the cultural details will be based off Thai culture than the other SEA cultures. Not sure how much I'll write but you know, you'll never start anything if you keep planning and planning so I decided that I'll try my hand at a chapter first and see how things go.
> 
> The royal barge idea came from seeing that boat at Fang when the water receeded after Sisu died at 1 hr 18 mins which looks kinda similar to the Thai royal barge and stuff so yeah. The rowers don't actually chant 1, 2,3 I think but it isn't the right mood for singing either so this probably works unless someone knows what works better?


	2. That Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Royal Barge reaches the Fang palace and everyone has work to do. Virana leaves dinner early, we get to see General Atitaya a bit, and by the end of the chapter, we are introduced to most of the characters who will be important in the Namaari's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this part shorter so I could get straight to the meeting but then realized that it's pretty important to get to know these characters a bit first. Also, after writing down an 8 page outline of the majority of the story (paragraphs, not bullet points), I realized that 6 years is a really long time and I have to quickly figure out how pacing works before this turns into an epic or something.
> 
> Some Thai words/phrases that I'll be using:
> 
> Krup/Ka- used at the end of a sentence to show respect or to say yes. Men use Krup and Women use Ka.
> 
> Sabai sabai- means easy going, take it easy. Directly translated Sabai means comfortable.
> 
> Wai- Wai is how we put our hands together to greet each other or show respect. I can't find the word for the Kumandran bow with the hands encircled together and I can't always write hands encircled together so I'm just going to use "Wai" in place of that.

When the royal barge reached the dock at the Fang palace, Namaari headed straight to the back of the palace to take a shower. It was a little late, but there was nothing she valued more than a nice warm shower to rearrange her rampaging thoughts and clear her mind. 

Nevertheless, dinner with her mother brought them all back.

“What did you think of today, my little morning mist?” Virana asked, cracking open a grilled prawn and placing it on Namaari’s plate. 

“I’m not sure.” The little princess replied, “Why did Chief Benja really believe in Kumandra? It’s a fairytale, right? There’s no way he could have held onto the gem with everyone in the room.”

“Benja was an idealist. He dreamed too much, reached too far.” The older woman chewed briefly and swallowed, “It’s futile. Humans are naturally selfish. We only have so much power to live well and protect what we have. Do you know what makes something ours?”

Namaari looked up thoughtfully, “It’s ours if we can keep it in our land?”

“No,” Her mother handed her another prawn, “It’s if we can protect it and mix our labor in with it. What’s ours is a part of our soul.” She peeled open another prawn, “That includes our people, Namaari. Chief Benja’s ideas are unrealistic because you can’t work with people from all around Kumandra and protect them. They’re not connected to us and we can’t connect with them.”

“But is there a possibility that it could actually work? I thought Raya was pretty nice.” Namaari looked down and away, “I mean, I hurt her but I really liked her- I mean I really liked our conversations- or well, I never got along with anyone my age at the religious classes.” 

Her voice lowered to a whisper, “Nobody cares about dragons like I do... but she did.” 

“I see.” The chieftain stated, “I understand that friendship is fairly important but you two weren’t fated to be. It would be better for you to find friends who are interested in something else if not your religious studies.”

“But how do I find friends? I don’t have any--”

"Chief Virana!" A young teenage boy appeared on the other side of the table, "The scouts are back _krup_. A basic defensive barrier has been built around the villages and General Atitaya is now awaiting for your orders."

The tall woman nodded and stood up, washing her hands in a bowl of lime before wiping them with a piece of cloth as she headed out the archway.

"Wait! Mom!" Namaari called, wrapping one of the uneaten crustaceans in a banana leaf, "You only ate two prawns. Take this one with you." 

"My love," Virana chucked lightly, "It may be a little rude for me to eat in front of my subordinates while they are working on an emergency call. I'm glad you're compassionate, but a good ruler does not eat in front of her people while they skip their meals. Finish the rest or get them to the kitchen. I’ll see you in the conference room at 9 tonight." 

Namaari nodded and sat back down as her mother left the room with the boy and headed to the cattery by the front of the palace.

* * *

“You are Somkhit aren’t you? How old are you? How have you been?” Virana asked kindly as they rounded a corner.

“I'm 14, Chief!” The teenager replied, with a smile, “I’m doing good, I just officially became the messenger boy around the palace. Lieutenant Phichit told me that if I keep up with my training, I’ll be able to join the army as soon as I turn 16.” 

“That’s wonderful news! Piyakom must be very proud of you.” The Chieftain exclaimed, “What fighting style have you been practicing the most?”

“Muay Thai _krup_. My mother tells me that I won’t always have my weapon with me.”

“Ah yes. Dao has always been a smart woman.” A sudden idea hit the monarch, “How would you like to join training with the princess?”

“Me?” Somkhit jerked his head up to look at the chieftain, “I can join the princess in training?”

“Yes,” Virana informed, “It’s been a while since she had a fighting partner around her size. It should benefit both of you.”

“I’ll be honored Chief Virana!” Somkhit grinned toothily, “I’ll be the best training partner ever.”

The side of Virana’s lips twitched upwards, “I’ll be the judge of that. Now what information do you have for me?”

“Scouts have sighted 4 Druun entities wandering around in the east.” The tall boy reported, adjusting the cloth on his head. “Thankfully, the area around Baan Bua village has been secured. Father- I mean Colonel Piyakom- has been out with the loggers and shipmen since he arrived and they’ve built a 4 meter barrier that has closed off the eastern part of the peninsula.”

Virana nodded approvingly, “That’s a good start, but Druun can squeeze itself through the gaps between the trees. Do you know how they’re dealing with that?”

“ _Krup!_ Since we’re using the Yang-na trees to build the barrier, General Atitaya has taken several artisans out to extract the resin from them to patch up any holes. They’re making sure it’s thick enough to be waterproof but most of the workers don’t know how long this would last.” He furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, “The more Druuns appear, the more power they’ll have to push the barrier down.”

The chieftain sighed, and guestered for the servants to open the cattery gates, “Fang will work together on this, Somkit. We’ll keep everyone safe. Now go get the metal workers on site and bring me the Druun scholar. I’ll be at the barrier.”

Somkit bowed, hands encircled on his forehead, and left for the machine workshop. Soon, Virana mounted her cat Suphalak and headed to the wooden blockade in no time.

* * *

“Hurry! Hurry!” A chorus of voices shouted as warriors on giant cats zoomed past the opening in the wooden wall. 

“Go! Go! Go!” General Atitaya jumped over a bolting cat and spun sideways with the dragon gem as she warded the Druun off the last scout that was rushing back. 

“Whew!” the woman puffed and encircled her hands by her chest in a bow, “Thanks ‘Taya!”

“No problem.” The general sweeped her eyes across the field, “Now close the gates!”

The large wooden wall swung shut with a long creak and barricaded closed with a large log. Cheers erupted from all around and a few servants came over to hand out cups of water to the warriors. 

“Report please!” Atitaya inquired over the exchange of compliments between the warriors and the servants.

“No losses ‘Taya!” An overly affectionate scout slid off her cat and whooped gleefully into Atitaya’s ear.

“Owww, oww,” The general whipped her head to the side and rubbed her ear, “Dao! Don’t yell in my ear.” She wrinkled her eyes shut and continued “So what did you find?”

“Well,” Dao started, “Just as Montri should have reported earlier, there are four Druun entities around this area. Two are right outside this wall and the other two are closer to the Heartlands. Thankfully, most of the Druun rushed towards Talon so it should take a while before they multiply and come barreling this way. We’re all good!” She laughed and swung her arm across Atitaya’s shoulder, “Don’t be so serious ‘Taya, _sabai sabai_. We have a lot of time to work things out and we’re all working together.”

Atitaya frowned and rested her chin against her hand, “Hmm.. I’m not too sure about that. We haven’t set up any defensive systems on our western end. If the Druun decides to move west, they could reach the end of the barrier and attack everyone.” 

“I doubt that. The Druun are stupid. Look!” The scout threw her free arm back and grabbed a cup of water from a nearby servant before chucking the water over the wall. 

“SCREECH!!! SizZzZZ…” A loud shriek rumbled across the ground, halting everyone in their tracks.

“Hehehe… see?” The skinny woman commented sheepishly, “We found out that the Druun is so afraid of water. Water of all things!”

General Atitaya lifted Dao’s arm off her shoulder and replied in a deadpan voice, “Don’t do that again.”

“Sorryy…”

The sound of rapid thumping came from behind the women and they turned to see Chief Virana on Suphalak come to a halt, “What happened here? Is everyone alright?”

The soldiers _waied_ in unison and Atitaya spoke up as she offered the gem shard back to her ruler, “The Druun was reacting to water, Chief Virana. Nobody got hurt. As long as we are able to keep the Druun close to this barrier for the entire week, we should be able to buy enough time to build a barrier that surrounds the entire Peninsula.”

“Good.” Virana commanded, assessing the wooden wall, “I want a soldier posted by the wall every 5 meters with an extra 2 to guard the entrance. There mustn’t be any blindspots. If there are any problems, report back to me immediately. Young Somkhit will be here with the metal workers soon, I want you to have them reinforce the logs with iron.” She paused, scanning the area, “Where is Colonel Piyakom?”

“He headed towards Baan Rai village. We used our entire stock of lumber on this wall so they’re gathering manpower to harvest more timber.”

The chieftain narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, “Commander Dao. Visit every village and have them start collecting lumber. It’s a waste of time to prepare one village at a time.” 

“Yes _Ka_.” The scout answered and swung herself up onto the saddle.

“And one more thing.”

“ _Ka_?”

“Attend the meeting tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fang Characters to remember (and their nicknames):  
> Piyakom (Piya)-- Fang Colonel, Dao’s husband and Somkhit’s dad.  
> Phichit (Pi-pi)-- Fang Lieutenant, in charge of training Somkhit.  
> Somkhit (Kit)-- Fang Messenger boy, the Colonel’s son.  
> Witya-- Namaari’s former nanny who is a medic but also works in the kitchen during peacetime.  
> Dao-- Scout Commander, Somkhit’s mom and Piyakom’s wife. Atitaya’s bestfriend since childhood.
> 
> I tried double spacing between text this chapter. Does this look better or did the last chapter look better? Something feels strange and I can't figure it out. This was also written at 1 in the morning XD. This might be a boring chapter but the conflict will start in like the 5th or 6th chapter.


End file.
